Rent for D.C. area apartments drop

The average rent for a D.C.-area Class A apartment dropped this year for the first time since 2002, as developers and homeowners caught in the housing downturn flooded the market with units that had once been for sale, a recent market report shows.

Rent for Class A apartments — those units in large, newer buildings with amenities like clubhouses or swimming pools — has dropped 0.8 percent region-wide over the past year, with high-rise apartments doing better than garden-style apartments, according to a third quarter report from Alexandria-based real estate research firm Delta Associates.